It is just the same as accelerating after you have released the clutch completely. Clutch wear should be nearly none whilst the pedal is not pressed and the rate of acceleration or decceleration from the engine is low, it is low for decceleration.

 

^^ agree ^^

clutch wear happens when the clutch peddle is pressed and released - when the plates start to bind - fully engaged or fully disengaged = no wear

 

I think the fella is saying when he slows down and slowly raises his clutch pedal after cogging down.
(I think anyway)

 

Doing this at low rpm would have no notable wear on the clutch. At high rpm it may do as it would when accelerating.

 

Engine braking is when the clutch pedal is not pressed and the car is in gear. If during this process a gear change is required then I suppose some wear of the clutch may happen while pressing and releasing the clutch pedal - but I expect this to be way way less than the wear on the clutch when accelerating and changing gear.

 

Would it? When accelerating up the and you disengage, the clutch would surely have less RPMs to match than when decelerating and changing down. Depends on torque however.

Note that clutch slip happens on a fully engaged clutch when accelerating mind you, so I guess that means the most "stress" is actually not at the point of gear change.

 

duplicate post - doh!

 

To clarify i do both types of engine braking, ie
in the same gear just letting the revs die and changing down ,say from 3rd to 2nd at 30mph ish

ok it sounds like im not doing any damage so thats good,

cheers fellas

 

Yes it will add "some" wear to the friction plates hence the saying

"Gears are to go, Brakes are to slow" !!

 

The injectors turn off when engine braking and you are advised to do it anyway as you have more control of the car whether you are using the brakes or not. The amount of torque being transferred through the clutch during engine braking is very small so the wear will be negligible.

 

I batter the car down the box to ensure i have the right gear for exiting the corner and i was taught to do that 20yrs ago when i passed my test. Our lass was taught to engage the clutch and coast round corners she reckons

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Coasting = driving test fail on the modern tests too.

 

My instructor reckoned it was ok to keep one hand on the gear lever and one on the wheel while driving around town, I failed my test that time! I'm not sure if all instructors always know everything

 

Nowadays in lessons they don't teach you change down each gear as its 'unsafe to take both hands off the wheel' Its from 4th coast then in to 1st

 

Continually using engine braking to slow down to a stop(or near stop)by going down each gear in sequence from 4th, will cause extra wear and tear on the gearbox and clutch, simply because you are regularly doing more gear changes than is strictly necessary. Whether it causes a premature failure however, is almost impossible to say for certain.
Engine braking is best used to hold a vehicle at a lower speed when descending hills, but to constantly use it as a substitute for brakes is really not a smart way to drive.
Some people routinely drive like this as if they are on a race track, and if thats what they want to do then its entirely up to them.
If i want to slow down i use my brakes, then select the appropriate gear for my speed before getting back on the throttle.

Dont make the mistake of thinking i drive slowly everywhere, because i dont.
It is possible to make progress and be gentle on your car at the same time.

 

Continually using engine braking to slow down to a stop(or near stop)by going down each gear in sequence from 4th, will cause extra wear and tear on the gearbox and clutch, simply because you are regularly doing more gear changes than is strictly necessary.

hmmm i was always told to drive like this in town, to minimize brake wear and save fuel...

 

DMF's aren't cheap, so glad I have a CTR clutches are allot cheaper.

 

I used to use gears to slow down as my first car, a 97 clio rt had rubbish brakes so I used the gears to compensate. I did it in my c2 vts and had no clutch issues but have since changed my driving style as the logic of changing pads as they are cheaper rather than a new clutch seems more sensible and it is meant to be the way in new cars. My mum changes down through every gear but when just cruising I skip gears up and down...e.g 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th from standstill then say 6th to 3rd if approaching a roundabout so in the right gear if there is a gap or if not straight to 1st or 2nd depending.

When having a sprightly drive, never skip gears up or down and while if I dont need to brake going into a corner I will rev match to a lower gear I cant do toe and heel braking so just brake and change down without rev matching which i know is not as good as rev matching but i am not Senna .....I assume what I am doing is all standard/ good practice stuff?

Regards

Whisky

 

It's not the engine braking that causes the wear, it's the changing down gears that does. If you really must downshift for this reason, rev matching will ensure you do as little wear as possible to the clutch. I try and rev match to reduce the amount of work the clutch is having to do.

 

Agree...now need to learn how to toe and heel so I can brake and Rev match

Question though, when I change down I slowly let the clutch in. There is no slipping as I am decelerating but feel if it's better for the engine and clutch to gently match the revs of the lower gear as opposed to a fast/ abrupt change like when you accelerate. Is this advisable?

Whisky

 

Yes that's correct. Harshly letting the clutch out while downshifting can cause instability at the front end. In some cases, a lock up. Smoothness is key.

 

On a downwards slope the engine braking effect in the CTR is so great that you can actually hold 30mph in 4th gear and not have to use the brakes to slow down at all.

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My wife passed her test after I did, and she was taught to shift down through each gear - which I find incredibly frustrating to observe!
I don't really recall getting much guidance on it but I was in a position where I could drive before I'd ever had a formal lesson so I probably ignored whatever I was told :lol:

 

I will go from 4th to 2nd.

Shouldnt do damage as long as you rev match.

 

I will often skip out gears when driving eg go from 4th to 6th or 6th to 3rd. or engine brake when going down hill in 4th and only brake when needed. but then I rev match all the time anyway. even if I am not having a spirited drive I still rev match on downshifts as it is force of habit.
If you can teach yourself to heal toe then great it does put less strain on your transmission.

 

Using the gears to slow down will obviously cause some clutch wear... the plate is spinning at a different speed to the flywheel/cover while torque is being transmitted. But I'm not sure I'd call it damage!

I use the brakes to slow down, not the gears.

 

I use the brakes to slow down, not the gears.

What jon said

Better replacing pads and disks than clutch and flywheel!

 

I still use both gears and brakes most of the time, but then the cars and bikes i learnt to drive on needed both

 

It is acceptable at a practical driving test to go down each gear,it's a fault but it is considered not worthy of mention as long as the candidate reduces their speed before each gear change.Having said that the examiner will point out in the debriefing that is advisable to skip all the unnecesary gears ie if your coming up to a set of traffic lights and your in 4th gear then you should brake in that gear until just before the engine starts to labour and then you should press the clutch wait for the speed to reduce fruther and then select 1th gear to move off again.